When diver Katsu Espinoza is invited on a shark-cage expedition by her billionaire mentor, she’s definitely up for some adventure, even if it means spending time with his greedy heirs. Then she sees who the captain is—Will Ashton, the betraying ex-boyfriend who’d once shattered her heart. And as if that isn’t unexpected enough, her mentor decides that she’s going to inherit the millions of dollars that were supposed to go to his family!

…and turned into hell on earth when they got to the island.

Suddenly, Kat is the girl who swept in to steal a frail old man’s inheritance. Then a storm hits, stranding all of them on a deserted island, forcing them to survive in a paradise gone deadly, because it seems that someone here hasn’t forgotten the money; they’re murdering victims with gruesome precision—and Will, with his secretive ways, is at the top of Kat’s growing list of suspects. And that list is getting horrifically whittled down one…by one…by one…

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Katsu Espinoza’s nightmare…

This book was published before. It used to have a different title, Baited, and I wrote it under another pen name, Crystal Green, because my Chris Marie Green nom de plume hadn’t really come into existence yet. (Vampire Babylon and a certain Ghost for Hire hit the scene afterward!) Chris Marie Green usually writes urban fantasy books with heavy paranormal elements, and this story doesn’t have any of that. But I decided to use “her” name on this because, like the urban fantasies, there’s a lot of mystery, action, thrills, horror, and yes, graphic violence here—so if you’re not into the last one in particular, you might want to duck out of Terror Island now!

But if you decide to stick around, I hope you enjoy the ride. (Or maybe “enjoy” isn’t quite the word for what’s coming your way…)

Happy Hunting,

Chris Marie Green

Excerpt:

As another scream tore through the island forest, Katsu Espinoza stopped in her tracks, trying to get a lock on where the sound was coming from.

The pulse in her head kicked to a deafening beat while she lifted her face to the gray sky, panting, blinking as a drop of rain bled from a palm frond and splashed onto her forehead. She tightened her grip on the long screwdriver in her hand—the best weapon she’d been able to scrounge from their sad store of supplies back at the cave.

Please, Kat thought—no prayed. Please give me another sign to follow. Even if the sign was another tortured yell that would let her find the next victim—whoever it was—before it was too late.

At the same time, she wished for silence. God knew what the killer was doing to the screamer right now. From what she and the other survivors had seen of the previous victims, she didn’t want to guess.

Blood running to the ground from the mutilations… Eyes staring in dead terror at nothing… Mouths open in silent cries…

Kat shut her eyes against a surge of nausea, but the vivid red images of flesh kept stabbing into her.

One victim.

Two.

Three…

Murder. A killer in the midst of a group of people she’d set out on a boat tour with only days ago. It’d started off so innocently, just like any other morning when you got out of bed, brushed your teeth, ate your breakfast, and did your thing.

But then the storm. The wreckage. This island.

Even now, she couldn’t believe what a nightmare the harmless little cage-diving expedition had turned out to be. Couldn’t believe a person like her—a normal girl whose biggest problems included endlessly paying off old credit-card debt and navigating a hapless love life—was actually chasing down a killer.

But all that was behind her, a hazy dream that was just as out of reach as the thought of being rescued from whatever nameless piece of land they’d found themselves on.

As Kat waited, a flash of lightning flickered, whitening the sky and the forest around her. A rumble of thunder shook the air, covering the chop of her own labored breathing. Tiny explosions of raindrops on leaves echoed her crazy heartbeat while she stood braced, ready to run toward…

Another shriek: Nooooo…aaaahhhhh!

Startled, adrenaline sparked her forward, toward the sound.

Ohgod, ohgod, ohgod…

Kat took hold of the screwdriver as if it were an ice pick and charged forward, parting the vegetation, dodging leaves, tripping over vines, and sloshing through the mud. Before she could really think about what she was doing, she stumbled into a clearing, screwdriver poised.

Opposite her, the newest victim sat slumped against the trunk of a tree, blood and raindrops mingling on a terrified face. His mouth, gaped open, still held a frozen yawp for mercy. His hands were wrenched behind the tree—obviously tied. When the victim spotted her, he leaned forward, his eyes widening.

Lips forming a soundless word.

Help.

Kat hitched in a breath as she took a sharp look around. Dark foliage. Quickening raindrops. A body…two bodies…sprawled in the high grass to her right.

Legs turning to slush, she dragged her gaze away and fought to walk to the victim. Still, she couldn’t help eyeing the bodies, trying to see who they were.

Or who they used to be.

Careful, she told herself. What if this victim is actually the killer and he’s tricking me, luring me?

Don’t trust anybody.

“Who did this to you?” Kat whispered, crouching. She still had the screwdriver ready, just in case.

The victim’s eyes weren’t focusing, and Kat could tell he was struggling to stay conscious. Could she get him back to camp in time to save them both?

The next blinding second, the victim’s gaze fixed on something behind Kat, his mouth falling open again… But it wasn’t to answer Kat’s question.

His blood-rimmed mouth was forming the shape of a scream.

Blinded by panic, Kat grabbed a handful of mud, preparing to whip around to throw it in the face of whoever was at her back, then follow up with the screwdriver.